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Six steps to cloud migration success

Many businesses have a cloud adoption strategy, but struggle during actual migration because they lack a clear road map. Accenture’s Brian Sullivan details our six best practices for a successful cloud migration.

Ensure all stakeholders are on board

Initial discussions should involve all stakeholders, from C-suite executives to end users, as well as IT and line-of-business managers, software developers and third-party vendors.

Getting executives involved early heads off objections later on, and it’s always helpful to explain why the organization has chosen to migrate to new systems.

The IT department, with its technology partners, must also play a big role to ensure that critical operations are not disrupted.

Define processes up front

Think about how you approach your core business processes.

An established global solution template that aligns with your cloud strategy can be replicated quickly and predictably to cover business process flows, along with technology solution approaches.

Having this part of the road map laid out saves time and effort and limits miscalculations when rolling out cloud services to additional countries, subsidiaries or business units.

Roll out cloud services in phases

With a phased approach, you enable flexibility and agility by minimizing company-wide disruption, and you can effect technology transformation, rather than just re-implementation.

Move one area of the business over, make sure the new technology is stable and effective, and prove that both IT users and people in other parts of the business have absorbed the new application and support processes. Then, make your next move.

Coordinate across subsidiaries

The average multinational corporation has more than 187 subsidiaries—according to estimates from Oracle—making it imperative for them to move to the cloud in sync

If different subsidiaries use different cloud solutions, it can have devastating effects on the entire ecosystem.

System and process integration is crucial to the success of any cloud migration. Furthermore, leaving some subsidiaries behind prevents them from gaining agility and lowering costs, while making them vulnerable to security gaps.

Align cloud purchases with business goals

Some lines of business may require cloud applications only to meet operational needs at lower costs.

Ultimately, all stakeholders must work together to achieve the same big picture objectives.

Choose a committed technology partner

Every organization has unique needs, and an effective partner can accommodate existing assets while meeting future technology requirements.

Only global cloud providers with breadth and depth of experience across applications, platforms and infrastructure can offer the best technology tools and support.

Moreover, view the process less as a one-time transaction and more as a long-term partnership. Select a vendor that aligns with your long term migration strategy and engage them at every stage of your digital transformation to build a strong, productive relationship.

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